The disclosure generally relates to a system for automatically scoring a game of darts. The game can traditionally be played with a board and a set of darts, and without any system for automatically scoring the match.
Some systems that can score a dart game have been proposed, but they are sometimes expensive, complex, or only partially automated. For example, some scoring systems only score the results and do not detect when or where a dart has landed. In these systems, users must input the location of darts as they are thrown. Other scoring systems may detect where darts have landed and calculate a score, but may involve complex arrays of sensors embedded in the board. Such boards may be prohibitively expensive and are sometimes inaccurate because of gaps in the coverage area of the sensors.
Some systems may also require specialized darts compatible with the sensors making them incompatible with traditional dartboards designed to use steel-tipped darts that penetrate into the board. Players may then need to throw a non-standard kind of dart requiring adjustments to their throw or style of play that may be unwelcome. For example, bristle dartboards that are compatible with some plastic-tipped darts may be required for some automatic scoring dartboards.
Traditional steel-tipped darts are often preferred by players, but automatically scoring them raises other challenges. Some systems attempt to score penetrating darts by using boards with exotic surfaces or multiple layers that may include special sensory membranes. The membrane may indicate the presence and location of the dart tip when the membrane is penetrated. However, over time, the membrane can lose sensitivity after it has been penetrated numerous times meaning it must be replaced, making the board less reusable than a standard board.
Some scoring systems rely on darts with specific devices or materials in the tip of the dart that are configured to trigger a sensor array in the board. Although these systems may provide increased accuracy and reusability, they generally require a board with the sensor array embedded into the board material. Standard steel-tipped darts generally do not include such devices or materials in the head of the dart. Additionally, specialized darts are often configured to adhere to the board surface rather than penetrating into it to avoid damaging the sensors. Thus systems for scoring steel-tipped darts often cannot take advantage of the increased accuracy and reusability provided by other types of boards.
Requiring special darts, exotic arrays of sensors, membranes, or specially constructed boards also limits the opportunity for existing board owners to upgrade their boards to include the benefits of automatic scoring systems. Restaurants, bars, recreational facilities, and private homes may thus be unable to retrofit their current dartboards with an automatic scoring system. They may then be left to choose between forgoing the benefits of automatic scoring, or accepting the additional cost and maintenance burden involved in purchasing and operating a separate automatically scored dartboard that may be incompatible with their current board.
As a result, many scoring systems are unsatisfying to use, cannot be fitted to an existing traditional dartboard, or are prohibitively expensive to manufacture and sell.